


Prickly Love

by Saberin



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project
Genre: F/F, nkmk shorts, sweet nkmk uwu
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-07
Updated: 2019-01-25
Packaged: 2019-04-19 19:28:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 5,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14244162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saberin/pseuds/Saberin
Summary: In which they fall deeper in love, told in short shots





	1. Shut up and sleep

**Author's Note:**

  * For [FluffFortress](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FluffFortress/gifts).



> Because myon is a nkmk enabler and im weak

There’s just something soft and calming about the way she sleeps. The frown that she’s used to seeing is nowhere to be seen, nor the expression Maki makes all the time, a cross between amused and disgusted. It still feels a little surreal to her, to be sleeping in the same bed as Maki, even when the sun rises, blowing colour into those messy red hair and she _sees_ it for herself.

She might get addicted to this, Nico thinks, playing with those red strands between her fingers. Maki is a dangerous game; _they’re_ playing a dangerous game, for only a door stands between them and seven other curious minds. Maybe just six, Honoka doesn’t count.

She kisses Maki’s ear anyway, self-restraint waning so rapidly she couldn’t help herself, and tucks those strands behind. There’s a soft ‘mm’, followed by silence broken only by the birds chirping outside. _Cute,_ she thinks, and almost decides that sleepy Maki is cuter when Maki rolls over and faces her. Apparently still asleep. With a frown plastered on.

“Wha-” Nico begins, before stopping herself. The frown only deepens before Nico finally decides to snuggle closer, it’s a Maki secret that she learnt just sometime ago. She pulls the blanket over the both of them and pulls Maki into a hug. The best one she could do while lying sideways.

“Hmhhm-”

And then a flush on Maki’s face tells her all she needs to know.

“You’re awake, aren’t you?” She laughs, patting the head buried in her chest. Maki’s hair is soft, like the expression she makes when she sleeps. Confused eyes greet her back, and for the most part Nico thinks she thought _wrong,_ until Maki starts muttering a string of denials.

“N-No?” Maki rolls back into her initial position, and Nico’s greeted with the sight of red flowing down Maki’s back. “You woke me up.”

“About time anyway, the others would be up soon.” She snorts. The short time with cute Maki only lasted that long.

“They’ll be sleeping in probably. They were playing cards last night.” Maki replies, already pulling the blanket up to her ears. “Now if you would excuse me.”

“So why,” She begins, as Maki’s actions slow to a stop. “Same bed?” It is all she could muster.

“I only have five beds at home.” She hears a soft mutter, and then a small finger wraps around her pinkie.

“S-So just take the spot beside mine.”


	2. Someone needs to ban sit ups

“You could have like, _put more effort into it_ maybe,” Maki comments, looking away. Her hands remain on Nico’s ankle, and she is mindful not to hurt her not-girlfriend with her knees. Except the girl in question is _half-heartedly_ doing sit ups, making her task of holding her down infinitely _harder._ Gaze check. Not on Nico’s legs. Check.

“You should try doing sit ups while wearing this skirt!” Nico retorts back huffing, “I’m putting in effort!”

“I never get why you wear skirts to practice. It’s not even practical.” She stares straight at the couple nearby – her eyes land on Nozomi and Eli, behaving just like they always do. Best friends with excessive skin ship.

“Why not?”

She hears a huff, and then Nico puffs at her the moment she sits up, blowing her bangs sideways. “It makes me look cute doesn’t it?”

“Argh,” She leans backwards, affronted. There is no way she could deny that. Her biggest crush on Nico is doing her a disservice and Nishikino Maki does not appreciate it one bit. “Don’t do that.”

“Do what?” She watches Nico go back down, a huge smile plastered on. “Do this?” And then she watches Nico’s face get closer and closer before Nico slows to a stop right before her very face. It is almost like every single cell in her stopped functioning at that moment; Maki freezes, heart pounding a million miles. And then Nico blows at her face _again._

Her eyes are shut immediately, but not before she catches the sight of Nico’s _lips._

“Don’t do _that!”_ Maki whispers vehemently, almost ashamed of the barrage of thoughts that came over. Would she like Nico’s lips elsewhere? Absolutely. Is she thinking about how she should straight up _kiss_ her? Definitely.  

“Grumpy baby.” Nico smiles, possibly even wider. “How about this then?”

She sees her own face in Nico’s eyes, reflecting shock. _Too close,_ she thinks, _too close._ And then Nishikino Maki freezes for the second time that day, with soft lips she dreamt of kissing actually _on_ her lips.

She splutters, just about the only thing she could do as Nico holds her hands in place.

“D-Don’t do that too!”


	3. You dumbass

“ _Eli_ is going to _my_ bridesmaid.” Nico looks incredulously at her not-girlfriend, appalled. Not yet anyways, at least she’d like to think so. And somehow, they find themselves skipping the topic of _dating_ and heading straight for the end game.

“You think I’d let _Nozomi_ be anywhere near me on my big day?” Nico whispers, finishing her last stretching exercise. All the while trying very hard to ignore Maki’s hands wrapped around her arms.  “Bet my ass she’ll trip me on the way down the aisle or something.”

“I don’t know. You have _many friends_ Maki, pick someone else. Third years gotta bond together you know,” she finishes, already half fantasizing about wearing a wedding dress. Maybe that one from the Vogue magazine she read last week. Maki could probably afford it. And then a delayed inner chuckle at the jab she just made at Maki.

“Kotori could take care of half the stuff. That girl is amazing.”

And all the while Maki nods, looking crestfallen as the names go by. “Honoka could be in charge of the cake or something. Umi could put together a list of guests?”

“Rin and Hanayo could be my bridesmaids maybe,” Nico adds after a while. “They’re possibly more useful than you anyways. I need all the people I can get.”

“W-What do you mean?” Maki tilts her body back, arms still locked around Nico’s. Her voice falls at the end, heart almost aching. “I can be useful.”

“I don’t know. Also why are you sounding so sad over this?” Nico finishes their last exercise and turns over, catching just that slight pout on her junior’s lips.

“What about me?” Maki whispers at last, “I’m not good enough to be one?”

“Oh hell, _I don’t know Maki-chan_. _Would you be present at my wedding?_ Would you like to be my _bridesmaid?”_

“I’m _asking?”_ Maki raises her voice just so slightly. Months of self-control taught her not to lose her temper over the very person she has a crush on. Besides, Nico’s breaths by her ears are so very distracting. “Of course I would be present. It’s your wedding.”

”You.” Nico breathes in deeply, in absolute disbelief. She should’ve trusted Nozomi’s words when she said Maki is possibly as dumb as the red brick they’re standing on. “We _kissed.”_ She says simply, flushing as red as Maki’s hair.

“How does that matter? I don’t see any correlation between my ability to kiss and my ability to be a bridesmaid.”

“ _I don’t know_ Maki. Maybe I need a _bride?_ The bride spot is currently _empty.”_ She gestures quickly to Nozomi at the other end, signalling for a break. She needs a _time out_ at the rate her cheeks are burning. “Have you ever thought of like, _maybe,_ marrying me?”

There’s brief silence as Maki registers the words, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. And then Nico storms straight out of the rooftop after, barely catching the mad blush on Maki’s cheeks.

“I-I have!” Nico hears a trailing shout right behind.

She slams the rooftop door shut anyway. They probably still have a long way to go.


	4. You're distracting

Before she hits the last key Maki already knows it is going to come out wrong, the way the base of the palm is barely holding her weight, and the way her pinkie barely reaches the base note of the chord just screams mistakes. And mistakes are not acceptable, especially not _now,_ when she is right beside that someone she wishes to impress.

“Maybe you could sit _a little_ further away, Nico?” She grits her teeth a little before unclenching her jaw in defeat not a second later. Nico _knows,_ she rolls her eyes at the senior looking back almost cockily. An absolutely disgusting power move, to diffuse her concentration within five seconds.

“It _is_ a little cold you know Maki-chan,” Nico begins with her sweet voice as Maki gags, “And you could be a little less frosty.”

She wouldn’t mind a little warmth, and even though Maki hates to admit it, it does feel nice.

“What’s with that…” She flips her scores, trying her best to be nonchalant. “I messed up the chord.”

“Just felt like leaning on you for a bit,” Nico says, bright smile on. One that Maki has been seeing too much recently, a genuine one that just lights up her day. And Maki _almost_ confesses, that it is too distracting to have Nico around, that nobody else has made her heart pound so fast her fingers almost stopped functioning the way she wants them to. There are many things that Maki wants to say, and many other factors that prohibit her from saying.

Like her damn fragile ego maybe.

“Did you get distracted?” Nico asks, almost a little goading. The slight change in tone does not go unnoticed, and Maki raises an eyebrow at that.

“With you putting your weight on me I failed to calculate-” She coughs, “I failed to take in the unexpected circumstances.”

“So, if you do take in all these you would be able to play it perfectly?” There’s that giggle that Maki _loves,_ completely shattering her from the inside and making her _weak._ And so Nishikino Maki pretends to be otherwise, because admitting would simply be too embarrassing and she would have none of that.

“Yeah,” Maki answers. And before that word was even out of her mouth she already knows, that it is likely to be colossal failure, not with Nico’s hand sliding up her thigh, or that ‘oh’ whispered into her ear.

“I’d like to see your performance.” Nico grins, the kind of smirk that Maki _detests,_ but love is weird like this. Maki _would’ve_ slapped that hand away from her thigh, but something in her argues against, and she finds herself obediently preparing to strike the keys.

It doesn’t take long for her to decide that she _can’t,_ not with Nico’s hand burning the skin on her thigh and that goddamn cherry perfume.

“I-If you keep your hands to yourself,” She adds a condition if only to level the play field, “I’ll do it.”

“ _No hands,”_ Nico raises both arms dramatically, “Now play it Maki-chan.”

She rolls her eyes at the honorific but begins playing nonetheless. It is a familiar place, safe territory. If there is anything that Maki lacks, it definitely isn’t self-confidence. The keys sing the tune she wants to hear, and for a moment Maki _forgets,_ letting that andante carry her away.

Until Nico decides to stick her nose into the matter, or her leg anyways; Maki almost misses the pedalled movement, what with her crush sliding her leg up her own.

“ _Nico,”_ She whispers, “Stop that.”

“ _No hands,”_ Nico whispers back, almost chuckling, “I’m not using my hands.”

A torturous passage later Nico stops, and just _maybe,_ Maki thinks, just maybe she could do this. Survive the chunk of chords, and that eight-key stretch, that wave of triplets. It’s not like Nico _comprehends_ the music anyways, what’s with a small rhythmic error? The next page would be relatively easy, and she feels that small wave of confidence coming back.

Only for it to be destroyed the next second when Nico puffs straight at her neck.

She would’ve manage an _ugh_ or something, but the jarring dissonance is too hard to ignore, with her fingers completely displaced on the wrong keys. She continues anyway, because it is only right for a performer to finish, even as she catches Nico grinning.

And before she hits the last key Maki already knows it is going to come out wrong, maybe this was never her fight to begin with, even with her guard up (against leg attacks, neck attacks), because nothing could have prepared her for the cheek kiss at the end of the piece.

“Did you get distracted?” And Nico just has that _audacity_ to ask, smiling wider than Maki has ever seen.

“Yeah.” Maki says for the second time that day, abandoning all pride. There is just about only one fight she could win right now and she isn’t going to let that slide.

“You’re distracting.” It is all she says as she leans back in full force for a kiss on the lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> because we all have a thing for teasing amiright


	5. You're the one who called me

“So why are you up so late?” Maki asks, voice a little raspy over the phone. “Don’t you need your beauty sleep or something?”

“It not like I _have_ to sleep at midnight Maki,” Nico whispers back. And despite that being said, the temperature at night is making her crave the warmth of her blankets. She leans on the railings and gazes in the general direction of Maki’s house from her balcony; it’s almost impossible in the dark anyways, but she would like to think that the tallest roof belongs to the Nishikino’s.

And maybe that flicker of light in the distance was Maki on her phone.

“So why are _you_ up so late?” She asks in return, pulling her cardigan close. Just behind the doors her three siblings are sound asleep, and when they’re all a little older maybe she wouldn’t get this much privacy anymore.

“Somebody called me at midnight Nico-chan.” There is just that slightest bit of annoyance in the tone, and she could almost see Maki rolling her eyes, with that half smile on.

“Oh? Who?”

A sigh from Maki’s side almost cracks her up, she bites her lips and puts a hand to her pounding chest.

“I don’t know, somebody who’s pretty annoying.” Maki replies with another sigh.

“Then why don’t you hang up now?” Nico asks, almost regretting it the moment the question leaves her lips. The silence from the other end scares her just a little, but they never hang up before it’s really too late. Like two in the morning.

“Are you at your balcony?” Maki asks in response, “Well I’m guessing so.”

“Yeah.”

“We could stargaze for a bit or something.”

Nico cracks the biggest smile at that, grateful that Maki isn’t around to witness it. How is a nerd quite so cute? It is one of the world’s biggest mystery that Nico has yet to solve.

“I-I mean it _is_ rather pretty at night,” Maki continues, in that same raspy voice that makes her heart pound, “It’s a nice view.”

“Mm.” And that’s all she says. Comfortable silence with Maki is rare, but not unwelcomed. And Maki doesn’t stay quiet for too long at night.

“If you trace the three stars that are in line-”

“Orion’s belt?” Nico laughs. It’s a piece of information that was rammed endlessly into her mind, though she never quite figured out Maki’s fascination over them.

“Y-Yeah. I-It’s just cool how we could be watching the same stars from a distance apart.”

And then there’s a pregnant pause so long that she thought Maki fell asleep, followed by a whisper so soft she barely catches the words.

“Makes it feel like you’re right beside me.”

“What was that?” She laughs despite trying not to, “Is someone _missing_ me right now?”

“I miss sleep.” Maki replies, raising her voice a little. “You know I could be asleep in my bed right now at two.”

“Then why don’t you hang up?”

“Why don’t _you_ hang up?”

“Well,” She giggles, “I wanted to record you snoring.”

“I _don’t_ snore.” The indignant voice rings clear, just like the stars in the night sky. The focus on Maki’s voice still make her insides twist a little, and her heart a little fuller.

“Yeah yeah. Goodnight Maki-chan~” She drops the line finally, they will be seeing each other in a few hours anyway.

“Oh.”

The little drop in voice almost makes Nico regret her decision to hang up, but a girl in love doesn’t mean a fool in love. And Nico certainly isn’t one, even if Maki is. That five am call that one night almost caused them to miss the entire day of class and she hasn’t forgotten.

“Goodnight.”

And Nico doesn’t say it, not tonight either. She gives the stars one last trace before heading back to her bed. Her heart aches and the day couldn’t come sooner.

 _I miss you too_.

She hugs her bear tight.

 


	6. Oops You Noticed

“Wha-” She raises a hand to touch her cheeks, freezing momentarily because Nico just _kissed_ her and there are a billion reasons why they _shouldn’t._ Not in public anyways. And not when they’re walking home with the rest. Her feet slow a stop on the pavement too narrow for two, and she only hopes her heart would do the same. “Did you just-”

Nico gives her a wide smile and winks – the world temporarily ceases to exist, and Maki resists the urge to suck in a deep breath. Her head spins and heart pounds, but she would have Nico know none of that.

The click clack of Nico’s school shoes is hard to ignore – it’s hard on her ears. And that gigawatt smile? _Hard on her eyes._ The light spring in Nico’s steps is almost as obnoxious as her attitude, and Maki would’ve thought of ways to erase it from Nico’s face if only it doesn’t actually look _good_ on her.

“ _What?”_ She whispers furiously to the girl she just glanced at literal seconds ago.

“Payment.” Nico says simply, hurrying her footsteps to catch up with Nozomi and Eli. “For the looks that you’ve been giving me all these while.”

 


	7. Did you expect me to carry you?

Being 17 years old and measuring exactly 154 centimetres isn’t something she is exactly proud of, but Nico has long since accepted her fate of being just (very very) _slightly_ shorter than average. Especially ever since she discovered Maki quite like girls shorter than her, something about tall girls being intimidating or so she heard. And the world’s greatest idol has in fact turned this to her advantage, she would go in the opposite direction on the intimidating scale – short equals _cute_ right?

Except at this very moment, her cute height is deterring her from reaching the baking stuff on the shelf and she really only has herself to blame. And Nishikino family’s lack of tradition to actually _bake_ desserts themselves. Three jumps later with her fingers barely touching the bag of flour and baking powder on the shelf she almost gives up; the last dealing blow comes when she hits her chest on the disgustingly high counter.

_Screw this._

She grabs the longest chopstick she could find rummaging through the drawers after some quick thinking; the house is quiet with everyone out, but Maki awaits in her study room (and Nico suppose, waiting eagerly for her baked goods), she _should_ be able to do this without any help.

The metal chopstick gleans under the afternoon sun and Nico smiles at her weapon of choice. She tip toes to the best of her ability and sticks the chopsticks right to where she supposes the bag of flour would be, and swings it left and right. Except she probably misjudged where it actually is. And hits empty air.

“Nico?”

 _Damn,_ just the person she doesn’t want to see right now.

“Yes?” She returns a strained smile and her signature sign. “Are you enjoying the view of my butt?”

“Pffft.” Oh, how she loves Nishikino Maki right now. If only she could curse Maki to a shorter height than her. “No, I’m watching you struggling to reach the top shelf.”

“You’d make a wonderful girlfriend Maki. A very good host, delightful friend.” Nico spits out, “You do realize I’m baking _for you_ right?”

And then Maki hesitated, red tinting her cheeks. Hands clenching and unclenching. Teeth biting on lips. “Whaat? Did you expect me to carry you or something?”

“Pfft,” Nico laughs this time round, god knows what fantasies Maki has, “ _can you?”_

“I _can,_ shortie.”

“Prove it.”

“You know you could just climb on the chair right.” Maki nods towards the kitchen furniture and looks at Nico squarely in the face.

“Or maybe you could like, _grab it for me,_ Maki?”

There’s a chain of disgruntled complaints that Nico has learnt to tune out, she hears some ‘I hate you’, ‘why are you making me do this’,’why am I doing this again’ and ‘god I hate you’, but the deed is done when Maki tip toes and grabs the stuff that she needs.

“Did you imagine yourself carrying me there for a second?” Nico asks, with the widest grin she could manage, “If I asked?”

Maki hesitated, red tinting her cheeks. Hands clenching and unclenching.

And Nico called it, teeth biting on lips.

“No way in hell.”


	8. Yours, Unsigned

**Yours, Unsigned**

“And so… I got another letter in my locker today,” Nico sighs dramatically, leaning her whole weight on her _not_ girlfriend’s side. She takes in Maki’s light perfume and smiles a little; it’s always comforting to return to a familiar scent after a long school day and Maki does a pretty good job of making her day usually.

“Mmh,” Maki hums, returning to the scores at hand without another glance. The piano room unanimously became their hideout somehow, and Nico appreciates the absence of _disturbances_ (mostly from Nozomi but that’s beside the point) when she is with her crush. Maki makes the cutest faces when they’re alone after all.

Not today apparently; today’s Maki is stoic and not paying her sufficient amount of attention.

“It’s another _love letter,_ I think…” Nico drops her tone a little and makes a slightly distressed expression. “Nico knows she is possibly the cutest in this school but what do I do with this confession?” She laments, sneaking a glance at the Maki.

_Unperturbed._

_Not even. The slightest hint of jealousy._

Maki shuffles the pages and scribbles with her pen like Nico’s expectations didn’t just collapse through the floor and underground.

“S-So… it’s a really cheesy poem and whoever wrote it likely took our first-year literature class and then dropped out maybe,” Nico continues. The stage is set and an actress finishes the act even if the events aren’t unfolding according to her wishes. She gulps, weighing the pros and cons of telling Maki about the immediate rejection she _was_ going to give to the author. There is no way she is _actually_ going to answer something like this in front of Maki. “It’s…eh… I don’t really know how to feel about this.”

The fan overhead creaks, about the only other sound in this room other than her slightly nervous breathing. Maki has looked over three pages of scores since the start of everything, _still_ strangely impassive. It has got to be as tense as the first time Maki came remotely close to actually confessing.

And then the pencil in Maki’s hand scratches to a stop, putting a pause to Nico’s own thumping heart.

“What does it say?” Maki asks, almost too quietly.

“Well, if you really want to know,” She fumbles with the flap and takes out the pink letter, nodding at the cute stickers decorating the edges.

Nico coughs for good measure. “I think about you everyday, even when the skies are grey.” It is written in a cute handwriting, albeit a little messy. The indents on the sheet makes her giggle a little, too bad she couldn’t read those words clearly. Surely the previous attempts had similar cheesy content on it.

“I replay our meeting like a broken screenplay, and each time I call it foul play.”

Stickers. Rabbit stickers. _Her favourites._ She might be liking this person a little.

And heavily scented with her favourite perfume. Almost like an entire bottle got spilled over.

“Because why does my heart give way? And I hope one day you can stay.”

She finishes, mumbling. It does satisfy that part of her that simply _craves_ for romantic stuff like these but it _isn’t_ Maki. Hell, it isn’t even signed.

She looks up at Maki like a child caught eating sweets, only to get a set of raised eyebrows and questioning eyes.

“I think the person did put in effort for this,” Maki mutters, pointing at the stickers and the envelope.

The fan overhead creaks, about the only other sound in this room other than her slightly nervous breathing, except at this point Nico isn’t sure who’s the one breathing. Not her, she doesn’t get nervous at the thought of Maki _not_ getting minorly possessive. The scene of Maki making a fuss over her fan letter seems so distant and she feels oddly _indignant._

“Y-You think I should reply? To this person who likely failed literature class?”

“Hey that’s someone’s _effort_ to please you- _”_

“The handwriting is messy and the stickers aren’t even placed nicely!”

Maki shuffles her feet and scribbles with her pen like Nico’s expectations didn’t just collapse through the floor and ten feet underground.

“You’re so _critical-”_

Hell, it literally says _unsigned._ What’s _Maki’s_ deal?

“It isn’t _you!”_ She spits out, bowing her head a little. There is a mixture of embarrassment and resignation, not unlike the one time she got caught kissing a photo of Maki. And she is about to bolt from the room and not appear for practices for the next three weeks when Maki stands up from the piano chair with cheeks as red as her hair.

“You were the one who said you’d like romantic letters!” An indignant splutter _._ She hasn’t seen Maki this red ever since she caught Maki reading horoscopes for relationship advice.

“And what about it?”

“It’ll be too embarrassing if I actually write my name on it you _idiot.”_

And then it all clicked.

The fan overhead creaks, about the only other sound in this room other than her slightly nervous breathing.

“You’re so-”

“Cheesy?”

“Cute.” She finishes, squishing Maki’s cheeks. “You’re so cute.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Take a guess what Nico's favourite scent is ;)


	9. I wanna kiss

It would be a lie if she said she _didn’t_ enjoy their passionate make outs; she loved Maki’s eagerness, excitement in her eyes and _neediness_.

“Nico?” Maki whispers into her ears, almost a little whine. “I wanna kiss.”

She would’ve agreed if she isn’t on Maki’s very comfortable bed and being spooned this very moment.

“And?” There is another problem with kissing this second – she is on five hours of sleep and isn’t that capable of _making out._

“Face me.” Maki mutters, hands roaming lazily. “Let me see you.”

There is a tone of urgency in it and Nico sits on it a little longer, feeling the surge of supremacy coursing through her very veins. Needy Maki twists her guts so and she cracks into a smile into the dark room, grateful that Maki couldn’t see the blush that she is likely sporting.

“No,” Nico whispers back, “Sleepy.”

And then there are kisses down her nape, so soft that she could barely feel it. Fingers running through her hair and hands caressing her cheeks.

“I love you.” She hears a quiet confession, void of the electricity the previous statements had but with the same conviction she’s so used to now.

“Nugh.” And she wishes that she could do the same, at least she thinks she doesn’t love Maki any lesser than Maki does. “You’re so mean.”

“I am _what_ now?”

“Mean.” Nico says, rolling herself over and touching their noses together. “I _was_ sleepy you know. It was getting comfortable and then you had to ruin it.”

“But,” She leans forward and kisses her love, “I’ll grant you this just this time.”

It is much softer than she expected; they aren’t kissing like their lives depended on it. They aren’t kissing like they need each other engraved in their skins. And Maki’s kissing her as softly as she says ‘love yous’ on days she needed to hear, on days she gets totally burned out.

“I love you.” Maki mutters between kisses, and she’s starting to think she likes sleepy Maki so much more. Sleepy clingy Maki is a good Maki.

“Mmh,” Nico breaks off to whisper, “Love you too.”


	10. This is what tunnels are for

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy birthday to my dear friend flufffortress!!!!!!!!!

It’s like some weird unspoken rule. Hands get detached when Honoka or any muse member approaches; smiles turn into slight smirks, the gaze on each other losing their previous intensity. Maki looks away first, breath heavy on her lips. Her fingers curl up and dig into her palms – it reminds her to keep her cool and not chase after the warmth.

“I’m _telling_ you, honey tastes better than maple syrup on pancakes,” Maki groans, “Look, if you don’t believe me you should go to the pancake parlour with me.”

It is getting rather difficult listening to Honoka wrapping the meeting up with idol goals, as noble as they sound, they have heard it too many times to count. And Nico’s so close she could almost reach her hand. Way too enticing.

“Are you _asking me out?”_ Nico laughs softly. Their fingers tickle for a fleeting moment, before Nico extract hers from beneath the desk and looks pointedly at her nails. “I don’t know about that you know. Honey does sound a little too _rich_ for my tastes.”

At this Maki extracts her own hand, somehow Nico always has the ability to make her feel like a waiting fool. Said hand goes to her hair – empty hands are always too empty.

“On the contrary, I believe honey taste lighter and you-” Maki raises an eyebrow at the sudden burst of giggles, feeling her cheeks burn just so slightly. “You have bad taste.”

“Maybe so. I guess I do have bad taste,” Nico picks up her file from her bag and starts filing her nails, “I mean, you can be pretty silly.”

“That’s huge coming from you though,” Maki looks pointedly back, “I haven’t forgotten you almost drank the lemon water used to wash your hands.”

“Nico would like to emphasise that it is just a stark difference in culture.” The file stops abruptly on fourth finger. “Ms how-do-I-operate-a-washing-machine.”

She watches as Honoka’s voice bubble out, clapping hands together before strutting out.

“I just needed the instruction manual.”

It’s like some weird unspoken rule. Hands find each other as the last footstep fade outside the hallway; the door creaks shut as full-blown smiles paint across faces. And then she is looking into Nico’s eyes, breath heavy on her lips.

“What do you say about pancakes?” Nico laughs softly to quiet nods.  


* * *

  
Their shoulders would be bumping on the way, hands detached but they need not be holding them all the time, not when the streets are busy. The subtle head kisses (thank god for height difference) on escalator rides, hand holding hidden from view. She finds it kind of exhilarating, a secret that is theirs to keep. It almost feels a little cheeky, as Nico would put it.

And then the noise fades out, the crowd bubbling out of the rarely used underground tunnel.

It’s like some weird unspoken rule. When last stranger footstep fades out and all Maki sees are Nico’s lightly flushing face, her thumb goes for the cheeks.

The thumb lingers just for a little longer, lifting off with a caress.

“This is what the tunnels are for.”

She leans in for a kiss.

 


End file.
